4, October 2020

Italian Football: Atalanta cruise, Inter held in Serie A as Juve-Napoli in coronavirus chaos ⁰

Papu Gomez extended his scoring streak to give high-flying Atalanta a third consecutive win 5-2 against Cagliari on Sunday as title rivals Inter Milan were stalled 1-1 in a bad-tempered game against Lazio in Rome where both teams finished a man down.

Champions Juventus’s clash against Napoli later on Sunday remained in doubt with the southerners having not travelled to Turin because of two coronavirus cases.

“No, everything is like Saturday,” a Napoli spokesman told AFP asked about a possible departure for Turin, hours before kickoff.

The Lega Serie A insisted all the health protocols were in place for the match to safely go ahead as scheduled for Turin at 1845 GMT.

In Bergamo, Atalanta struck hard in their first home game this season, bringing their tally to 13 goals in three games played, to sit top of the Serie A table.

But Inter dropped points for the first time this campaign despite playing 20 minutes with a player more after Lazio’s Ciro Immobile was sent off.

“The score could have been much bigger,” said Atalanta Gian Piero Gasperini.

“Now the (international) break interrupts this momentum. Hopefully we’ll pick up where we left off.”

Gasperini’s side were four goals up at the break with Luis Muriel opening after seven minute.

Gomez blasted in the second from a distance just before the half hour mark, five minutes after Uruguayan defender Diego Godin had pulled Cagliari level on his debut since moving from Inter Milan.

Mario Pasalic and Duvan Zapata also scored in a five-minute spell before the break.

Joao Pedro reduced the deficit for the Sardinians after the break but Sam Lammers marked his first home game with an impressive solo effort with nine minutes to go.

Atalanta have the maximum nine points, two ahead of Sassuolo and Inter.

In Rome, Lautaro Martinez gave Antonio Conte’s side the advantage after half an hour off a deflected Ivan Perisic effort but Sergej Milinkovic-Savic headed in the equaliser ten minutes into the second half.

Immobile was sent off after 69 minutes for hitting out at Arturo Vidal with Inter’s Stefano Sensi also seeing red with minutes to go.

Hellas Verona fell to their first defeat of the season with Jasmin Kurtic scoring after just one minute to give Parma a first win this campaign.

– Napoli risk forfeit –

In Turin, confusion reigned over whether Napoli would line out, after midfielder Eljif Elmas and Poland international Piotr Zielinski contracted the virus.

The team have not left Naples because of measures of regional health authorities, despite the Lega Serie A insisting conditions were safe.

“The protocol provides… rules, which allow the playing of league matches even in the event of a positive tests, fielding the players who tested negative,” Serie A said.

These measures are “applicable to the situation of Napoli, which has two positive players for Covid-19,” the Liga Serie A added.

The league said it had “a precise rule to be adopted in the event of multiple positives that can lead to the postponement of matches only upon the occurrence of certain conditions which, at the moment, do not apply to the case of Naples.”

Juventus confirmed they would “take to the field” as scheduled despite two positive tests among their staff with coach Andrea Pirlo naming his match-day squad.

If Napoli do not play Gennaro Gattuso’s side, who had won both their Serie A matches so far this season, would forfeit the game 3-0.

The league are applying UEFA rules that say a match can take place as long as a side have 13 healthy players, including a goalkeeper.

The only possible exemption would be a club which has an active outbreak of Covid-19 with more than ten new positive cases in a week.

In that case the club can request a postponement, but only once in the season.

Genoa’s game against Torino on Saturday was postponed with the Ligurian club, who lost 6-0 to Napoli last weekend, counting 22 cases, including 17 players.

Source: AFP

4, October 2020

Why was Brenda Biya trolled and what was her reply? ⁰

Brenda Biya is the daughter of the president of Cameroon, Paul Biya. Brenda Biya’s mother is Chantal Biya, the third First Lady Of Cameroon. Brenda Biya was born in 1998 at Etoudi Palace. She envisions a music career and has also launched a song. In 2020, she was under medication for her eyesight. And recently she was trolled in the social media for her eyes. Why was she trolled and what was her reply? Here we have updates about the early life, career and the latest updates about Brenda Biya.

Early life of Brenda Biya

Brenda Biya attended her schooling at the Les Coccineller Complex. She studied in a special school made for the presidency of Cameroon. And joined a private school for the children of the presidents. In some of her videos, she shared that she is in a relationship. In 2019, she updated in her Instagram story that she suffers from Graves disease and thyroid disorders.

Career of Brenda Biya

Brenda Biya is interested in music. And she also very active at social media. Brenda likes many African artists like Locko. In April 2020, she launched an online store for the sale of hairpieces named Bree Culture Inc Shopping.

Brenda Biya’s reactions to the trolls

In 2020, there were updates that Brenda Biya is at the risk of losing her eye. Brenda was suffering from a disorder due to which her thyroid hormones are expressly produced. Due to which her she has swelling eyes. Eye swelling is one of the symptoms for her medical issues. Is also causes changes in vision and eye irritation.

Brenda Biya is now under the medication to reduce the counts of her thyroid hormones as there is no cure for this disease. And in recent times, she was trolled for her big eyes. And Brenda replied to the troller’s stating that ” I don’t want the disease graves disease to a person. But I think sometimes, I would like you to understand. You make fun of someone who has a defect to a disease! It shows the blackness of your souls and your jealousy”. She updated this in her Instagram story. After this update, the trolls were reduced for Brenda Biya. And recently, Brenda updated about her online shop named Bree Culture Inc Shopping that’s sales wigs and craft works.

Source: Theecake

4, October 2020

Yaoundé announces resumption of sporting activities amid COVID-19 ⁰

Cameroon’s Minister of Sports and Physical Education Narcisse Mouelle Kombi on Thursday announced the resumption of all sporting and physical activities in the country after several months of COVID-19 disruptions.

The activities must take place in strict respect of health and anti-COVID measures prescribed by the government, Kombi said in a statement.

“For now and until further notice, the number of participants for each sporting event must not exceed 200,” Kombi said.

All sporting activities in the country were halted in March when the government banned all gatherings in the country due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The restart of sporting activities will now permit the country intensify training as it prepares to host 2022 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) and the 2021 African Nations Championship (CHAN), officials said.

Source: en-brinkwire

4, October 2020

Boko Haram: Multinational Force seeks support of Cameroonian military ⁰

The Multinational Joint Task Force has approached the Cameroonian military structures for support in its ongoing fight against Boko Haram insurgents in Nigeria.

This was contained in a statement by the Chief of Military Public Information for MNJTF, Col. Muhammad Dole, on Saturday.

The statement disclosed that the Force Commander, Maj.-Gen. Ibrahim Yusuf, made the call when he paid a courtesy call on the Governor of the Far North Region, Midjiyawa Bakari, while on a 3-day operational visit to Cameroonian formations and units in Maroua on Saturday.

Yusuf appreciated the political support and goodwill extended to Sector 1 of MNJTF, adding that the support had facilitated the smooth execution of non-kinetic operations, leading to the surrender of several insurgents.

He stated that winning public support was a strategy for successful counter-insurgency operations in the region.

The Force Commander, therefore, urged both the national and MNJTF forces Commanders to sustain regular operational visits for better understanding and mutual benefits.

The statement partly read, “It is pertinent to note that the operations of Sector 1 MNJTF (Cameroon) are closely linked with the operations other formations of the Cameroonian Defence Forces. These include Operation EMERGENCE by the 4th Joint Military Region and the 4th Gendarmerie Region as well as Operation ALPHA by the Rapid Intervention Battalion (BIR) all located in Maroua.”

Earlier, Bakari commended the MNJTF for stabilising and restoring relative peace to the Lake Chad Basin.

Bakari appreciated the sacrifices of all the soldiers from the MNJTF troops and assured that the ongoing military operations would ultimately bring peace and security for sustainable development in the region.

Source: Punch Nigeria

4, October 2020

US: President Trump improving but doctors were ‘very concerned’ ⁰

White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows said Saturday Donald Trump’s health, including a fall in his blood oxygen level, had left the president’s doctors “very concerned” but that he had improved and there was never a risk he would have to hand over power.

Meadows’ comments to Fox News capped a day of back-and-forth in which conflicting reports about the president’s health created an opaque understanding of the leader’s actual fitness.

“He’s made unbelievable improvements from yesterday morning, when I know a number of us, the doctor and I, were very concerned,” Meadows said.

Earlier in the day a source familiar with the president’s health — later named in US media as none other than Meadows — had given a contradictory assessment stating that “the president’s vitals over the last 24 hours were very concerning.”

The statement also seemed at odds with an assessment by White House doctors that the president was “doing very well.”

Meadows seemed to clarify late Saturday that comments pertaining to concerningly poor health had applied to the day prior.

“Yesterday morning, we were real concerned… he had a fever and his blood oxygen level had dropped rapidly,” Meadows told Fox.

However, “there was never a consideration and never even a risk of a transition of power,” Meadows said.

Late Saturday, White House doctor Sean Conley said Trump was “not yet out of the woods,” but that the medical team was “cautiously optimistic.”

Meadows echoed a similar sentiment stating that he was “very, very optimistic, based on the current results.”

The president posted a video to Twitter late Saturday appearing relaxed in an open-collar shirt and blue suit jacket, telling viewers he would be “back soon” — but acknowledging that the crucial coming days would be “the real test.”

Source: AFP

3, October 2020

Football updates from the African continent ⁰

South African coach Pitso Mosimane has been congratulated by President Cyril Ramaphosa after joining African and Egyptian giants Al Ahly from Mamelodi Sundowns.

“It is a recognition of the talent and capability within our continent,” said the head of state as he reacted to Mosimane becoming the first sub-Saharan African to coach the Cairo club.

“Pitso will be missed as a force in South African football, but his appointment strengthens the bonds of friendship between our two countries.”

Mosimane replaced Swiss Rene Weiler, who led Ahly to the Egyptian Premier League title this season but could not agree terms for a renewal of his contract.

Here, AFP Sport rounds up football news from the continent:

Egypt

Mosimane debuts Sunday as coach of record eight-time African champions Ahly in a domestic league match that is more significant to rivals Al Mokawloon Al Arab.

His new club have already clinched a 42nd title and are 15 points above fierce rivals Zamalek with four matches to play but Swiss coach Rene Weiler left after contract talks with the club broke down.

Mokawloon are desperate for a win as they trail Pyramids by five points in the race to finish third and qualification for the CAF Confederation Cup, the African equivalent of the Europa League.

South Africa

Ajax Amsterdam have severed links with Ajax Cape Town, selling their 51 percent stake in the national second-tier league club from Cape Town.

The four-time European champions worked with their Cape Town namesakes for 21 years, offering coaching assistance and taking talented locals to the Netherlands.

But the plan gradually misfired with a Ajax Amsterdam statement saying “the South African market has not produced enough talent and the club has shifted its focus to other markets”.

Ethiopia

Wubetu Abate has replaced Abraham Mebratu as coach of Ethiopia, who have competed at the Africa Cup of Nations only once in the past 38 years.

Mebratu did pull off a surprise home win over the Ivory Coast in a 2021 qualifier, but achieved little else of note for a country ranked 41st in Africa and 146th in the world.

“It is a dream come true for me to manage my country,” said Abate as he prepared for two Cup of Nations qualifiers against Niger next month.

Nigeria

Hoffenheim defender and former Germany U20 captain Kevin Akpoguma has opted to play for Nigeria — the birthplace of his father — at senior level.

The 25-year-old can switch international allegiance because he has not played for the German senior team.

Germany-born Nigeria coach Gernot Rohr says Akpoguma could be considered for home and away Cup of Nations qualifiers against Sierra Leone during November.

DR Congo

Five-time CAF Champions League winners TP Mazembe of the Democratic Republic of Congo have hired a Cameroonian midfielder and a Guinean forward for the 2021 African campaign.

Cameroonian Cedric Martial Zemba Ikong, 21, has moved to southern Congolese city Lubumbashi from Apejes Mfou, an academy team based in Yaounde.

Guinean Moustapha Kouyate, 26, joins 11-time CAF title winners Mazembe from Muscat Club in Oman and is seen as a successor to Jackson Muleka, who moved to Standard Liege recently.

Morocco

Star Moroccan forward Ayoub el Kaabi has joined Wydad Casablanca from Chinese club Hebei Fortune to bolster the already powerful squad of the Moroccan title hopefuls.

He sprang to prominence in the 2018 African Nations Championship, scoring nine goals as hosts Morocco won a competition restricted to footballers playing in their country of birth.

Second-place Wydad trail fierce Casablanca rivals Raja by one point with three rounds remaining in the Moroccan championship.

Guinea

Conakry-based Horoya are the only non-north African side to reach the semi-finals of the two 2020 CAF club competitions and much of the credit belongs to businessman Antonio Souare.

He has poured millions of dollars into the club that has not lifted a continental trophy since winning the now defunct African Cup Winners Cup 42 years ago.

Souare is bankrolling thea new stadium and an academy outside the Guinean capital for the club who meet Pyramids of Egypt this month in a Confederation Cup semi-final.

Source: AFP

3, October 2020

Rwanda: Three genocide suspects arrested in Belgium ⁰

Three men suspected of involvement in the 1994 Rwanda genocide have been arrested and charged in Belgium with serious abuse of human rights, the prosecutor’s office said Saturday.

The office gave no details about the three but said their identities had been established with the help of witness testimony collected in Rwanda by a Belgian investigation.

“Two were arrested Tuesday in Brussels and the third Wednesday in Hainault (province),” said Eric Van Duyse, spokesman for the Belgian federal prosecutor’s office.

“All three have been charged with serious human rights abuses,” the spokesman said, confirming a report in the weekly publication Vif/L’Express.

One of the men has been put under electronic surveillance while the two others are in detention, he said.

Whether the men face trial will be “decided in the end by the dossier compiled by the investigating magistrate and the prosecutor’s office,” Van Duyse said.

The 1994 genocide claimed 800,000 lives, mostly Tutsis but also moderate Hutus.

Belgium has held five trials since 2001 of Rwandans implicated in the killings, with four that year — including two nuns — sentenced to terms of up to 20 years for handing over Tutsis in their shelter to Hutu militants.

Last December, former senior Rwandan official Fabien Neretse was found guilty of genocide and sentenced to 25 years prison.

Source: AFP

3, October 2020

Persian Gulf Countries: Thousands of African workers kept in appalling conditions ⁰

Hoping to escape the war, death and destitution rampant in their home countries, thousands of African workers embark every year on a grueling journey to the affluent Persian Gulf countries looking for employment.

The more fortunate ones will end up doing backbreaking manual labor earning a pittance, barely enough to make ends meet.

Should they be unlucky, a fate worse than death awaits them, as the thousands of Ethiopian workers stranded in Saudi Arabia in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic can attest.

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, one of the wealthiest countries in the world, has absolutely no excuse for its treatment of the Ethiopians, nor the terrible conditions they are forced to live under.

Far from the inquisitive public eye, the Saudis have been keeping thousands of African workers in squalid places under deplorable conditions. Given the Saudis’ mistreatment of African labor, Black Lives seem to be that last issue to matter in the Saudi kingdom.

We are humans

Every year thousands of African workers go on a grueling journey to the rich Persian Gulf countries in the hope of escaping war, death, and destitution. With luck on their side, they might end up in finding hard manual labour with meager wages just to continue their hand-to-mouth existence.

Inhumane living conditions

A shocking expose was published by The Sunday Telegraph in August. It disclosed that thousands of African workers were locked in detention centers across the country under inhumane, unsanitary conditions. With their smuggled mobile phones, some of the migrants gave the newspaper a snapshot of life – or to be blunt, death – in these hellish centers.

According to Adam Coogle of Human Rights Watch, “Photos emerging from detention centers in southern Saudi Arabia show that authorities there are subjecting Horn of Africa migrants to squalid, crowded, and dehumanizing conditions with no regard for their safety or dignity.”

“Lots of people gone to Saudi Arabia know just how dreadful the treatment of émigrés and refugees and actual workers are and this thing about the Ethiopians is just consistent with all the terrible things they do to third-country nationals.” William Spring, Peace Campaigner and Political Commentator

Source: Presstv

3, October 2020

Ambazonia Interim Government urges Yaoundé to hand over henchmen in Mamfe Mayor case ⁰

The Ambazonia Interim Government has not turned a blind eye to the grisly assassination of the Mayor of Mamfe, Ashu Prisley Ojong.

Vice President Dabney Yerima has renewed the call for La Republique du Cameroun to hand its henchmen involved in the crime over to Ambazonia Restoration Forces in the Manyu County.

Commenting on the incident on Friday, the exiled Southern Cameroons leader recalled the circumstances around the mayor’s murder and brutal slaying by a French Cameroun CPDM hit team at the SATOM Bridge in Egbekaw.

Ashu Prisley Ojong was heading to his native Eshobi unaware that someone in Yaoundé had dispatched a death squad to take away his life.

The details of his murder emerged and his body was recovered and later laid to rest in Mamfe the chief town in the Manyu County.

The Biya Francophone Beti Ewondo regime claimed the murder was an “Ambazonian” operation, but the entire Manyu population and the Southern Cameroons Interim Government have directly linked the Manyu CPDM barons to the killing.

Vice President Yerima told the Southern Cameroons war cabinet that French Cameroun administrative officials have been harboring the criminals.

By Chi Prudence Asong

2, October 2020

President Trump, Biden: Covid 19 most serious threat ⁰

President Donald Trump’s positive coronavirus test has undermined his repeated claims that the US is “rounding the turn” in its handling of the pandemic, with just one month to go before the November 3 election.

Trump announced on Friday that he and his wife, Melania, had tested positive for Covid-19, and were going to quarantine at the White House.

Trump is 74 years old, putting him at higher risk of serious complications from the virus.

His physician has said the president is “well” and will continue to perform his duties “without disruption”.

However, even if the president remains asymptomatic, he will likely have to halt in-person campaigning for an unspecified amount of time while he quarantines at the White House.

“It is unclear exactly what that means for a president of the United States, especially for this one who has spent months not wanting to wear a face mask, not wanting to take physical distancing seriously,”

“The White House published a schedule for tomorrow, with various events that he will presumably not be fulfilling. It does beg the question: will he seat a campaign virtually, as his rival Joe Biden has been doing a lot?” Smith added. “Presumably, if Trump is feeling well enough, he would be able to do that.”

Whatever form Trump’s campaign takes in the coming days and weeks, his diagnosis has seriously undermined his attempts to downplay the pandemic and refocus the race on other issues.

In the past, Trump has wrongfully predicted that the coronavirus “is going to disappear”, and even questioned scientists who contradicted his assertions in public.

‘This could be a really significant blow’

Trump has also largely ignored his own government’s public health guidelines, refusing to wear a mask or observe social distancing.

At the first presidential debate in Cleveland, Ohio, earlier this week, Trump even mocked his Democratic challenger, Joe Biden, for the size of his mask.

“Every time you see him, he’s got a mask,” Trump said of his opponent. “He could be speaking 200 feet away… And he shows up with the biggest mask I’ve ever seen.”

With a number of polls showing that a majority of Americans disapprove Trump’s handling of the pandemic — which has claimed at least 207,000 lives in the United States — his diagnosis will likely only compound this opinion.

“This was a day many people feared, many people saw coming, many people thought may well happen, because he was continuing to hold campaign rallies, a couple of them indoors. He was defying often his own public health guidelines on the coronavirus,” Smith said.

Trump’s positive test result certainly complicates his ability to effectively campaign against Biden, who is currently leading in the polls.

“We’ve seen Trump really thrives off the energy of crowds, of holding big events. It gives him a sense of momentum,” Smith said. “This could be a really significant blow to a presidential campaign that is already struggling with Joe Biden well ahead in the polls.”

It is also unclear how Trump’s positive test will affect arrangements for the second presidential debate, which is scheduled for October 15 in Miami, Florida.

Source: France 24